Parole Denied to Man Who Disposed of Body

Parole Denied to Man Who Disposed of Body

Article excerpt

Byline: Madura McCormack Madura.McCormack@dailymercury.com.au

THE parents of murdered Mackay man Timothy Pullen say it's "a little bit of justice" after one of the men accused of disposing their son's body was denied parole in the first decision made under new No Body, No Parole laws.

Leanne Pullen said it had been a "very anxious" five weeks since the public parole board hearing of Stephen Dale Renwick's application for freedom on January 12.

She called it the "first positive" since her son was abducted and murdered over a drug debt in April 2012.

Renwick is serving a five-year jail sentence for disposing of Timothy's body near Collinsville a day after he was killed in North Mackay.

The Parole Board yesterday handed down its decision to refuse Renwick's application, stating it was not satisfied that he had cooperated enough in the investigation to find the body. In its decision, it said it did not accept the location given by Renwick is the true area.

It also said he had lied to police when approached in 2012.

In the past 20 months, Renwick -- who disposed of Timothy's body near Collinsville, west of Mackay -- has given police two locations of where Timothy's remains were buried.

When Renwick first took police to what he claimed was a bush burial site, he did not speak to investigators and took a lawyer with him.

The search, which did not find anything, was part of Renwick's plea deal with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Detectives approached Renwick again late last year, explaining the No Body, No Parole laws. He gave investigators a second location, not far from the original search site. Nothing was found again.

Police had argued that Renwick knows more than he has told police and he should remain behind bars.

The new No Body, No Parole laws, which the Pullens have campaigned for, came into effect in August 2017, designed to incentivise prisoners and also help victims' families.

The Parole Board is able to free a prisoner if it is satisfied they have made enough of an attempt to help "identify the victim's location". …